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Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:45 pm
by Giovanni Schwartz
I correct myself. There is no way to express the concept of Deja Vu in Chinese that is not a simple description (which is remarkably hard to do. I mean, you can say "It's a glitch in the Matrix", but what does that really mean?).

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:58 pm
by Katya
Giovanni Schwartz wrote:I correct myself. There is no way to express the concept of Deja Vu in Chinese that is not a simple description (which is remarkably hard to do. I mean, you can say "It's a glitch in the Matrix", but what does that really mean?).
Right. And it's perfectly valid to say "there isn't a simple word or phrase for this," which is an interesting observation on grammar or culture. (There's no word for "how" in French as an adjectival modifier. E.g., you can't say "How tall are you?" You have to say something like "What is your height?")

But people who make the "no word for X" observation tend to jump to the conclusion that the speakers of that language can't fathom the very concept of X, which generally isn't true.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:18 pm
by Portia
What is hugger-mugger? That kid who used to hang out in the library?

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 2:30 am
by Dead Cat
The Doctor married his old self's daughter, who also happened to be his own clone daughter. Yeah.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:52 pm
by UffishThought
Wait, what? Is this Dr. Who?

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 8:05 pm
by Dead Cat

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:35 am
by mic0
TIL all about KWC - Kowloon Walled City. Crazy stuff. Here is a nice summary with some good pictures.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 8:22 pm
by Talons
mic0 wrote:TIL all about KWC - Kowloon Walled City. Crazy stuff. Here is a nice summary with some good pictures.
That was incredible, thanks for sharing.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:55 pm
by Digit
Eddie the cop on The Simpsons is a son of Mr. Burns.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:00 am
by Digit
Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's were both founded by the same guy, Nolan Bushnell, a University of Utah College of Engineering graduate and, according to Time Magazine in 1999, a "lapsed Mormon."

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:41 pm
by Talons
Digit wrote:Eddie the cop on The Simpsons is a son of Mr. Burns.
Was this from a new episode?

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:13 pm
by Digit
On closer examination, I don't see a certain source in the form of a specific episode. That's a wiki site, so maybe some editor just put it there because of a perceived resemblance and it never got undone.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:48 am
by Digit
Guam is home to the largest K-Mart in the world. Funny, in the picture it doesn't look too much bigger than the average super Walmart.

Re: Daily random tidbit.

Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:24 pm
by Digit
Tim Russ, who played stoic Vulcan Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager, was the one who played the Spaceball who, while combing the desert with an afro comb, angrily yelled out "We ain't found s***!" :)